Classical Tyro

A Beginner's Guide to Great Music

It’s official — I have never stayed with a New Year’s Resolution as long as the one I made for 2019 to listen to all the music in Clemency Burton-Hill’s Year of Wonder. February supplied some great pieces, from Gregorio Allegri to Giacomo Puccini to John Williams. I will say, however, that I was generally familiar with the music on the February list and wasn’t introduced to as many new pieces as was true for January. I was nevertheless thrilled to wake up every morning and read about the music Burton-Hill had assigned for each day of the month.

Although I made my resolution at the beginning of January, I see no reason the Year of Wonder can’t begin any day of the year. I recommend followers of this blog purchase Burton-Hill's book and get to work reading about and listening to her terrific recommendations. I have posted a Spotify playlist for March for those who want to begin their own Year of Wonder.

I have also embedded pieces by Percy Grainger and Wolfgang Mozart that ranked as highlights for me in February.

Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist for MARCH of the Year of Wonder

Grainger, Handel in the StrandPerformed by Richard Hickox (piano) and the BBC Philharmonic

Mozart, Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448Performed by Daniel Barenboim and Margaret Argerich

Although this blogcontains articles primarily about music, it also explores a variety of other topics. To see a collection of all topics, organized according to category, go to the Archive found at the top of this page.